Interview with Witchtrap 2006

By Bradley Smith

I have been listening to your latest opus, No Anesthesia a lot lately.  It is a raging thrash metal assault.  Are you happy with it?  Was it a different experience for you in the studio and writing the material than your earlier releases?

W/ We are pretty satisfied with this album. All the stuff on this album was recorded and mixed according to our likes and it took enough time. Last times we were short of time in studios because they are very expensive and we couldn’t do the things the way we wanted.

To my ears Witchtrap has had some noticeable musical progression from Witching metal to Sorceress Bitch and then to No Anesthesia.  Can you tell me some of the reasons for this development and what you guys have done to ensure your growth?

W/ We’ve been working for more than 12 years ago, and we have learnt a lot of things throughout this years, as well as we have got more identity. After two releases we know how we want to sound, and what we need to get for this.

First Necromancy was released in the recent past and is a collection of your demo material collected in one place for all of us metal maniacs.  How did this release come about and do you think that your early material stands well on its own?

W/ Obliteration Recs. from Japan released in CD format the Masacre’s demotapes some time ago, and then they shown their interest to press our demo on cd version as well; we had never thought it could be pressed on CD format. Anyway we though it was a good chance for the band to get some promotion and so we accepted. And as a matter of fact we decided to add our second demo (never released).

It seems your band’s stature in the underground has been growing and growing.  I mean it seems everyone is starting to hear the rumble coming from Witchtrap as it permeates the metal world.  Have you noticed an increase in your fan base?  What are some of the craziest places you get emails from?

W/ Yes, it seems some people from around the world are getting interested in us, but I couldn’t say the level of that. We have received e-mails from a lot of places in the world, specially from Japan, Germany, Norway, Canada, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Brazil, Sweden, Turkey, England, Australia, Holland, USA, etc… all of them are giving us all their support, belief and help.

A lot of people thought that Thrash was dead.  But it appears that it was only in hibernation.  A lot of new bands are reinvigorating the underground with Thrash!!!  What makes this style so special?  Why is it becoming popular again?

W/ The 80s’ thrash was contaminated very soon with hard core crossover and punk, so the most pure thrash metal disappeared in 1987 or 1988, what means only 4 years of exquisite loudness and speed. After that I could say “Thrash was dead but dreaming”, and all other styles of metal have had a lot success and attention as thrashers were getting exiled and forgotten. It seems that after 20 years, thrash lovers got strength and pride, and it seems we will get the place thrash deserves.

Participating on a compilation album requires different actions on a bands part then when they are doing a full length album of their own.  I see you have participated on at lest two comps.  How was that different and what did you have to do to get involved with those releases?

W/ Well, we really did nothing especial except for doing what we like to do and that’s all. These compilation tapes were made for promoting Colombian bands raw stuff, and almost every of it was about black metal at all except for Witchtrap.

A lot of the outside world views Colombia as a land of violence and extreme heat and so on.  Is this an accurate picture for them to have?  How has living in Colombia affected Witchtrap?

W/ Even Colombia is known as a violent country, all this violence doesn’t take part in everybody’s life here; Witchtrap hasn’t been affected by violence directly. However to be a metal head here it’s a real odyssey. For example, keeping your hair long, denim jeans and leather jackets is and obstacle for getting a job, because here the look is more important than your academic level, skills and knowledge. So, in Colombia it’s really hard to keep you life style, your band and especially your dreams.

There is a huge amount of metal heritage from Central and South America.  Sometimes I feel though that these lands don’t get the respect and credit they deserve.  How do you feel about the metal worlds attitudes when it comes out South and Central America?

W/ South and Central America have made their contribution from the 80s to nowadays. Maybe there have been bigger and better bands in other parts of the world that got all attention. Sepultura and Sarcofago among others had their success but they didn’t know how to make good use of it, and nowadays when almost all metal seems to be pretty bad I don’t know what could expect from these lands.

Philosophy can play an important part of what a person decides to record and write lyrically as well as musically.  What sort of personal beliefs guide you in regards to Witchtrap as well as your own life?

W/ Witchtrap lyrics are based on all Rock & Roll and Metal influences in our lives. Our beliefs are the freedom metal gives from all society fake laws. 

You guys were members of Dark Millennium before starting Witchtrap.  How many releases did Dark Millennium have and what caused you to change your musical direction in order to start Witchtrap?

W/ Dark Millennium had no releases. This was a classic death metal band that was formed during the apogee of this style in the early 90s. In these years we saw metal was becoming flat and out of creativity, and so we started to wonder about our intentions and expectations in music, and speed metal was the answer.

I know you guys have not yet been outside of Colombia.  If you got the opportunity to perform or even travel outside of Colombia to say Europe or Asia would you?  If you could go anywhere and perform, where would it be and why?

W/ Of course we are willing to go outside Colombia to blow amps playing metal. Our main expectation in life is to reach success playing metal everywhere there are wild girls and boys hungry for metal; it could be in USA, Europe or Anywhere; it really doesn’t matter.

Final Words before the whips are unleashed?

W/ Thanks a lot to you for giving us the chance of appearing in your zine. To all metal heads around the world:

THANKS FOR BELIEVING AND SUPPORTING METAL, KEEP ROCKING HARD AND LOUD!